“No, not at all. It’ll be a crazy afternoon,” I assured her as she smiled gratefully. “I might want to go to your place for some quiet time.” I winked at Mom as she narrowed her eyes playfully at me, making Brandon laugh.
We enjoyed lunch and it was good to see Mom smiling so much. She came back into the building with us and chatted with people as we headed back to our office. Jane watched as she came inside and giggled. “Your mom is too sweet.”
“She likes you. Over the years, she’s taken in a lot of the staff as family and vice-versa,” Brandon told her as he looked at me. We talked about the upcoming holiday and we told her about some of the more eccentric family members and a couple of the wild kids that would be tearing around the place. Jane laughed and sent in an order as she mused that her mom might enjoy it. She was alone in Tennessee apart from some friends and Jane was trying to talk her into moving here.
Jane told us about the holidays when her family was still around and how festive they were. They went caroling around the town and looked at Christmas lights as a big group on a planned night. There was coffee and hot chocolate at the local shop with treats for the kids. Emotion played across her face as she spoke and I knew why Mom invited her to come to our house now. Mom could see that she needed it at some point today.
We left at five, since everyone decided as a group that it was the week of Christmas and we all deserved it. That wasn’t a direct order from Brandon or me but we agreed. Tomorrow there was a catered lunch and gift exchange for those that signed up. Dad always used to enjoy them and I felt sad as I shut the light off to go home. He’d never see one again and in all the rush of taking over, neither my brother or I signed up for it.
We talked as we left, going to a shop after we saw that Jane made it to the bus safely. It was a coffee shop on the way home and we bought gift cards for everyone, enough to where they could buy several coffees. We grinned as the cute girl behind the counter helped us to get them into festive envelopes as she batted her eyelashes at us a few times, trying to ask us out with the gentle hint that she was done with her shift soon. I politely thanked her, cutting Brandon’s question off as she handed us the red bag of cards with a wistful smile. “She wanted a sandwich, Brent.” Brandon told me as I rolled my eyes.
“She was eighteen if that.” I got into the car and started the engine.
“Didn’t you go through a series of coffee house girls for a while?” Brandon reminded me as I chuckled. I had but that was before…before I was running a company and responsible for my family. That seemed like a long time ago.
We went home and left the bag in the SUV as we walked inside. There was some chili in the kitchen and we fixed bowls of it with the thick bread fresh from the over, joining Mom and Ashley at the table. Mom told her about our sweet, new assistant as Ashley looked at us with an eyebrow raised. “You couldn’t get a middle-aged woman or even a guy, could you?” Her voice was sarcastic as Brandon tossed a chunk of bread her way. Ashley seemed sullener by the day lately and I knew it was the upcoming holiday. Out of the four of us, they had a special bond that should have never been broken.
“It was opportunity. We took it,” I replied as she rolled her eyes. “Mom invited her to Christmas.”
“There will be a lot of people here, so it won’t make that much of a difference,” Ashley spoke slowly, her tone saying that a million people wouldn’t replace Dad. She was right, though we wanted Mom to have her day. Mom gave her a long, sad look as she stirred her chili before taking a bite.
We all went to bed later that night, Brent and I readying ourselves for two more days at the office before having some time off. We were looking forward to it after working so much. Tomorrow would be casual with the lunch, since it leads people to relax a little more and hang out together. Dad didn’t mind and neither did we. The staff was great since we took over, helping us in so many ways. We wanted them to have some fun today.
Jane
I walked into work with a giant bag of the cookies that Mama made yesterday while I was at work. She also made some bean soup for supper, which was my favorite of all time. She’d instructed me to plate the cookies on something nice for the luncheon, since there was going to be food out all day. A few people looked at me as I stepped into the elevator and I smiled wryly as I clutched the plastic bag. The office door was open when I approached my desk and I set the bag down with a grateful sigh, craving a hot cup of coffee.
“What’s that?” Brandon asked as he stepped out, making me jump.
“Mama sent cookies to the party,” I said shyly, trying to catch my breath as he chuckled.
“You carried that on the bus?” He asked as he eyed the full bag with a raised brow. “That’s so heavy.” Brandon stepped forward and searched my desk with his eyes. “Let me have your phone, Jane.”
I licked my lips as I reached over for my purse, all too aware of his proximity to me. I slipped my hand inside and found the heavy phone, handing it to him as our eyes locked. Jesus, but this man was handsome. He grinned as he took it, sliding the screen on and working quickly with his hands before he handed it back to me. “I put my cell in there. If you have something like that to carry across town, let me know. We can give you a ride.” Our eyes remained locked as I felt my heart jump into my throat, feeing my attraction to him bubble to the surface before footsteps sounded behind us. “So, what kind of cookies are those?”
“I…ah…there’s a few different kinds. She was busy while I was at work,” I smiled as I glanced behind him to see Brent looking c
uriously at us. “Want dibs? She made enough to feed the entire building.” I left them with the bag and went to make coffee, taking slow breaths as I watched it drip into the cup. What happened back there? I knew that Brandon was hot as was his brother, but I never felt it hit me quite like that in the past. Of course, he’d never been that close to me and I sensed that he was a little wild, rough around the edges. Brent seemed to have a fine line of control but in that moment, I knew that Brandon wanted me and I couldn’t deny that I wanted him.
I wanted them both.
I composed myself and went back to my desk, taking the bag of cookies to the conference room. I glanced around at the table that was already being filled up with things to nibble on, smiling shyly at the women working. “Is there a plate that I could use? I have some cookies.”
“Some cookies?” A blonde asked me sarcastically as she glanced at the bag in my hands. She looked around and found two large, festive plates and brought them over. She was gorgeous, as were many of the girls that worked here and I knew that she knew where I worked by the way her gaze took me in slowly, curiously. “Let’s get those onto a plate. I’m Melanie. I don’t think that we’ve met yet?” She reached out a perfectly manicured hand and I shook it as I forced a smile on my face.
“Jane Drury. It’s my first week here so I haven’t made the rounds yet.” We shook hands as she observed me with a shrewd gaze.
“You work for Brent and Brandon?” She asked, clearly aware of the fact.
“Yes, I’m helping them through the busy season.” Another woman came over and opened the bag with a sharp look at Melanie, and I helped her plate them as Melanie finally started to help us.
“These look delicious,” the older woman said as she lined them in the middle of the green plate. “I’m Barbara. Jane is your name?” She offered her hand with a genuine smile on her face.
“Yes, it is.” I replied as I took one of the thick chocolate chip cookies and added it into her neat circle.
“Did you make these?” Barbara asked as I laughed nervously.
“My mama did when I was at work. She’s visiting for the holiday.” I finished that plate and then added the remaining cookies to the red plate beside it, noticing that Melanie was gone. I glanced across the room to see her talking to some other girls, her eyes lit up as she stole a glance at me. I knew they were gossiping. I sighed and Barbara touched my arm gently.